Ten-year-old Natalie Hershberger hopes to bring home a gold medal in taekwondo from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics – but in order to get there, she is asking for some help from her community.
According to her dad and trainer Chris Hershberger, three-time national champion Natalie has won everything she can possibly win for her age group within U.S. borders. The next step for her career – and towards the Olympics – is international competition, which comes with a high price tag.
“The sport is already expensive enough; we pay a considerable amount of money just to do her domestic stuff, and that ranges anywhere between $12,000-$15,000 per year,” explained Chris Hershberger. “Our goal is to raise $10,000 to cover all the expenses for her upcoming competitions.”
Natalie hopes to raise enough funds to compete at the U.S. Open in Orlando, Florida from Jan. 20 to 25, the Canadian Open in Toronto, Ontario from Feb. 13 to 15, and the German Open in Hamburg, Germany from Feb. 28 to March 1 – the weekend of her 11th birthday. So far she has raised a little more than $1,000 on her GoFundMe site.
Competing internationally is a key component to Natalie’s eventual dream of being chosen for the Olympics, as she will begin to gain both points and valuable experience with global contenders. Currently she is a USA National Team Member with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).
“It’s all based on your international experience and medaling; her medals for the next two years aren’t going towards the Olympics but it puts her in a position where she’s going to be chosen to fight at international events,” explained Chris Hershberger. “It’s one step on top of the other. She’s done everything she can on the national level so we really want to get her started as early as possible because it’ll ensure more success later.”
Natalie’s situation is unique considering most taekwondo fighters are not ready to start competing internationally until the age of 12 – and consequently, expenses are not covered by the AAU until the age of 12. The step up in competition is something she looks forward to, though not without a few nerves.
“Some of them I get a little nervous about because I’m going up against more leveled fighters that I’m not used to going against,” said Natalie. “Some of them I’ve already gone against before in some matches, but some of them are completely new.”
The Hershbergers have a few fundraising events in the works for the month of January, but so far Natalie’s primary fundraising source has been her GoFundMe page. Chris Hershberger noted social media has been key in spreading the word about Natalie, and she makes sure to thank each and every donor personally on her Facebook page.
“I do that so they know how much I’m thankful for their donation and their support,” said Natalie. “We’ve gotten at least three donations from people we don’t even know.”
The social media exposure is a blessing for the Hershbergers for a sport that sees very little exposure in the U.S. compared to other sports – a fact that frustrates Chris Hershberger.
“(Taekwondo) is a fringe sport, which is kind of sad because here you have a national champion, U.S. team member that’s here in Mansfield and because of the nature of the sport she gets very little exposure compared to other sports,” he said. “We’re very grateful and thankful for what she’s been able to go to up to this point, but when she works as hard as she does… it’s frustrating to know Natalie is among the very best internationally in her age, and she’s unable to get to some of these tournaments. It is what it is, but we wish it were different because it would definitely help.”
Both Natalie and Chris Hershberger are asking for help from their community in order for Natalie to bring the community an opportunity its never seen before.
“She would be the first Olympian from Mansfield, and she hopes to be the first Olympic gold medalist from Mansfield,” said Chris Hershberger. “She’s not taking this lightly, she’s in it for the long haul at this point and she’s ready to take it on, and she works very hard.”
“This is a dream that I’ve been working on since I was like five, and it would mean a lot to support me and help me live my dream,” added Natalie.
